DRINKING WATER

ashland-water-intake AMERICAN And Partners Install Boltless Restrained Underwater Pipeline System In Ashland, Wisconsin

Beneath the waters of Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin, about 4,500 feet of 24-inch AMERICAN Flex-Ring Ductile Iron Pipe and a submerged timber crib intake structure were installed to ensure the city’s residents have quality drinking water for the next 100 years. The Ashland Water Intake Project began May 1, 2025, and is now complete.

DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS

DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES

  • Free Chlorine Measurement In Drinking Water Treatment
    12/21/2005

    Before water can be used as a safe and reliable source for drinking water, it must be properly treated. Since water is a universal solvent, it comes in contact with several different pathogens, some of which are potentially lethal, and inactivation is accomplished through chemical disinfection and mechanical filtration treatment. This treatment consists of coarse filtration to remove large objects and pre-treatment which includes disinfection using chlorine or ozone

  • How Activated Carbon Works To Purify Air And Water
    10/31/2019

    The first step is to define the performance limiting factors in the application. For this application, most of the adsorber is used for MTBE adsorption in the ppb concentration range. Adsorption of BTEX, TBA, or humic acids or other total organic carbon (TOC) components are removed by the front end of the column.

  • Automatic Rinse Tank Controls
    10/29/2021

    Proper rinsing is one of the most important steps in quality manufacturing or metal finishing. Plenty of low cost, good quality water for rinsing has been available in the past, so rinse water conservation has been largely ignored.

  • How To Read An Encoder
    9/13/2013

    The HR-E LCD encoder has a 9-digit Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to show consumption, flow and alarm information. The display automatically toggles between 9-digit and 6-digit consumption, rate of flow and meter model.

  • Water Determination In Liquefied Petroleum Gas Using GC BID And Ionic Liquid Column Watercol™
    6/28/2018

    Water in petrochemical feedstocks can cause problems for processors. Freezing of pipe lines and valves and poisoning of expensive catalysts are just a few examples.

  • Pile Cloth Media Filtration Removes 97% Of Microplastics From Wastewater
    12/6/2023

    Learn about filtering microplastics from industrial wastewater prior to discharge, and how this is one way to effectively reduce the volume of this waste material from entering our surface water.

  • Hemodialysis Patient Health
    10/29/2021

    Controlling dialysate quality is critically important to hemodialysis patient health. Complications as minor as nausea and fatigue or as severe as metabolic acidosis and sepsis can result if dialysate composition is incorrect. All the factors that ultimately affect dialysate composition must therefore be carefully monitored and controlled: proper proportioning and mixing of concentrates with water; the quality of water mixed with concentrates to form dialysate; and the quality of water used in the reprocessing of hemodialyzers, system maintenance and disinfection.

  • Determination Of Polar Pesticide Residues In Food Of Plant Origin, By And Automate QuPPe Solution
    9/29/2014

    The QuEChERS (Quick-Easy-Cheap-Effective-Rugged-Safe) sample extraction method was developed for the determination of pesticide residues in agricultural commodities.

  • Complete Flow Solutions
    11/11/2024

    Siemens’ extensive portfolio includes various flow measurement technologies, such as Coriolis, clamp-on ultrasonic, vortex, and differential pressure meters, catering to a wide range of industrial needs.

  • Irrigation Technology In Agriculture: How New Technologies Overcome Challenges
    1/29/2019

    As the world’s population continues to increase at a fast pace, more food and water will be needed to sustain humanity. In the past 50 years, we have tripled our need for water and food, and there are no signs of this trend slowing down. As a result of these conditions, smart, innovative agricultural practices are needed now more than ever. Technology can, and already does, aid agriculture in innumerable ways. One prominent part of agriculture that can use technological innovation to increase efficiency and effectiveness is irrigation.

DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS

For 80 years, positive displacement, reciprocating metering pumps such as Pulsafeeder’s Pulsa Series have led the industry. These hydraulic diaphragm pumps have been the benchmark for safety, reliability and accuracy. Today, with automatic degassing features like the HypoValve, API-675 compliance, and certified by WQA to “NSF/ANSI/CAN 61” and “NSF/ANSI 372”, the PulsaPro Series is a perfect fit for Water & Wastewater Treatment, Oil & Gas and Industrial applications.

The PHOSPHAX sc Phosphate Analyzer is environmentally controlled for rugged, outdoor installations, provides a wide measurement range for a variety of wastewater and drinking water applications (e.g. in the activated sludge basin, for phosphate elimination and my more), and comes with the fully featured "Plug & Play" digital controller. 

The Navigator 500 Hydrazine analyzer provides a continuous measurement of the level of hydrazine in boiler feedwater, enabling the chemical dose to be controlled automatically.

CoriolisMaster FCH400 series of compact Coriolis mass flowmeters feature low pressure drop, high capacity, intuitive ABB common display, five modular I/Os and HART communication. The FCH400 series offers on top EHEDG certified cleanability with polished wetted materials.

The Series 3800 MEGA-COUPLING is a restrained coupling for similar and dissimilar pipe materials.

Water Quality Monitoring Panels offer application specific Hach® sensor and electrode configurations in the convenience of one panel and are pre-engineered, ready to install, simple solutions - that are designed to work together.

LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER

DRINKING WATER VIDEOS

The recoating of a potable water tank in Lancaster, PA, included an already tight timeframe and several challenges that cause delays.

Toxins from harmful algal blooms are increasingly contaminating source waters, as well as the drinking water treatment facilities that source waters supply. EPA researchers are helping the treatment facilities find safe, cost effective ways to remove the toxins and keep your drinking water safe.

New sensor offers continuous monitoring, immediate detection of lead.

In this episode of Ozone Talks, host Sannel Patel takes viewers deep inside Pinnacle Ozone Solutions’ cutting-edge ozone generation technology. Joined by senior engineer Eric Francis and technician Dayton Julius, the discussion centers around the Quad Block ozone cell—a patented, modular system redefining ozone production through innovation, precision, and durability.

Dr. Jamie Dewitt explains her research in Phamacology and Toxicology and why water pollution might pose a problem no matter where you are.

ABOUT DRINKING WATER

In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:

  1. Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
  2. Drinking water treatment of source water
  3. Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers

Drinking Water Sources

Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater. 

Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.

Drinking Water Treatment

Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.

There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.

The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.

The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.

During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.

Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.

Drinking Water Distribution

Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.

A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.

Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.